King’s Council
King’s Council is a raider confederation in Seattle that banded together in the face of encroaching civilization. Based out of King County International Airport, King’s Council takes a proactive approach to raiding in that they also protect caravans if paid to do so. The largest remaining raider group in Seattle, King’s Council is regarded as a nuisance but not on par with past terrors such as Skull-Taker or the New Order. History Unifying the Gangs The history of King’s Council is intertwined with that of King County International Airport and the raiders that inhabit the airport. Raiders have been inhabiting the airport since only a few years after the war after all. Many of the raider leaders of the airport were despots like Nega, Perez, and Fisk. However by the time of the last leader Fisk, the raiders of King County International Airport were becoming aware of the inherent instability of such a system. There was also the expansion of traditional civilization in Seattle that was making life for raiders much harder. The raiders in the airport were feeling the crunch and wanted something new to ensure their survival. This would come down to a council of the strongest raiders who would presumably rule when Fisk was unable to anymore. At this point in time, Fisk was focused on his personal project of achieving flight and cared little that there were conspirators scheming about succession. He was just happy to finally fly in 2260 in his helicopter accompanied by the dashing Clarissa. Unfortunately for Fisk, he would die only two years later from lung cancer due to years of heavy smoking. As soon as Fisk was in the ground, a small group of powerful raiders declared themselves the new overlords of the airport and branded themselves King’s Council. These raider bosses divided themselves into raider gangs and set about establishing dominance over Seattle’s raider scene. The raiders at the airport had been rather ponderous ever since the fall of the New Order, and they ready to reassert themselves now as King’s Council. Throughout the 2260’s, King’s Council set out to eliminate or control all other raider gangs in Seattle and mostly succeeded. This caused a great deal of upheaval throughout the ruins of Seattle as war consumed the city. Raiders fought one another as civilized folk were caught in the crossfire. Seattle in Flames Around the time King’s Council was asserting itself over other raiders, the Oregon Brushfire Wars were raging to the south in Oregon. This especially came to the forefront when King's Council briefly captured Stern's Raiders in 2264. The raiders had heard of the NCR's advances before, but the things these ex-Rangers told them made King's Council very nervous. The NCR was making inroads into Oregon after Operation: RED TRAIL and the Brushfire War, and they were in constant conflict with the Oregon Confederacy. This worried King's Council greatly, and it only worsened after Stern's Raiders escaped their clutches. In the following years, King's Council focused less on bringing the rest of Seattle's raiders to heel and more on the ongoing situation in Oregon. In 2266, the raiders heard that a war was on the verge of beginning, and King's Council, fearing the NCR's slow creep north, decided to throw their considerable weight behind the Northwestern Alliance, which was led by Stern's Raiders. The raider bosses eventually decided not to send troops south and instead created the Free Army. Men like Drake Terrenzi and Clyde Everett rallied to the Free Army and went to fight in northern Oregon against the NCR while King's Council watched eagerly from afar. The duration of the War of the Northwestern Alliance was quite short for King's Council it seemed. By 2270, it was clear that the Northwestern Alliance had been defeated along with the Free Army. The raider bosses of King's Council were incensed that their caps had squandered. So, the raiders would soon enough escalate their war on other raiders in Seattle such as the Degenerates and 206 Raider Clan-Gang. The attack against the Degenerates would be quite successful in pushing them out of Seattle while the 206 Raider Clan-Gang would putter on. Blood would run in the streets of Seattle for much of 2270. Another event in 2270 would bring a titanic change to King’s Council: the Treaty of Capitol Hill. The civilized peoples of Seattle had had about enough of the raiders in their city and they too were worried about the further expansion of the NCR. So, the three largest settlements in Seattle, Chinatown, Captiol Hill, and Emerald City, banded together for means of mutual protection against all external forces. That included King's Council. Soon enough, the caravans of Seattle began taking retribution upon those who raided them. King's Council quickly saw that they did not want to provoke an outright war with everyone else in Seattle. Retribution was especially fierce when raiding the Northwest Trading Company, as mercenaries hired by Thornton and Chinatown militias both hounded King's Council for months afterwards. So, King’s Council decided to switch tactics and to ease off the raiding. Instead, the raiders decided to give the caravans an option of paying them off instead of attacking outright. The caravans quickly took the option of giving King’s Council tribute, which surprised the raiders. The bosses concluded that they should have done this for years and decided to settle down in the airport while extorting the caravans. The 2270’s was a time of great prosperity for King’s Council. The raiders were still raiding low-level targets while growing rich off of extortion from caravans. Chaos Hub provided a valve for latent creativity within the ranks of the raiders of King’s Council. A lot of raiders were just bored at not being able to raid as much as they used to, and they went into other interests related to the new radio network. The return of Jade to Seattle had a significant effect on King’s Council as the raiders became Jade’s most valuable allies. The chem kingpin practically bought out a few of the bosses of King’s Council, and she had the raiders support her chem operations across the city. Jade also made sure the leadership of Seattle’s settlements did not try to wipe out King’s Council. The main boss of the Council, Stonewall, became greatly concerned about Jade’s increased influence but accepted it as a necessary evil relating to their survival. The Stagnation of King’s Council King’s Council has become rather sluggish as their practices of extortion and protection rackets have made their bosses rich without having to raid directly. Jade’s influence and the Council’s remaining military might has held off any attack from the outside so far, but the raider bosses have become increasingly paranoid as time has gone on. They are sure that the rest of Seattle is coming for them, and the raider gangs are getting jumpy. The younger members of King’s Council are becoming attracted to violence once again and to working with the slavers of The Block. The raider boss Tad McLear is a prominent violent example who mostly raids caravans outside Seattle and frequently attacks travelers inside Seattle. Many related Council raiders also trade captives with The Block to get even more caps as the older raiders are more skeptical of slavers, not wanting their image to be even worse than before. King’s Council has always had slaves, but they have been usually withdrawn from the local slave trade. The raiders of King’s Council have survived where man other raiders in Seattle have fallen, but their time seems to be drawing to a close for many. Even as their leaders are paid off, many regular people in Seattle feel that raiders, the last vestiges of the wasteland, should finally be removed. The raiders might be making caps now, but their time seems to be drawing near. Equipment The weapons and uniform of the raiders of King’s Council are not very uniform, to say the least. Each raider boss that makes up the council has his own gang with different features. Overall, the technology level of King’s Council is pretty low but is high enough to intimidate most wasterlanders. In Seattle, the only people who might outclass the Council in technology are the Geigers and the inhabitants of the various city-states of the region. The most advanced raiders within King’s Council are Riddle’s gang, who try to at least look the best. They are often equipped with fragments of combat armor and full suits of leather armor. Their weapons are most commonly rifles and pistols with machetes as melee weapons. The rest of the gangs (besides Tad’s) is just one step down from Riddle’s mostly being equipped with ramshackle firearms, crossbows, and knives. Tad’s gang, the newest, is of the lowest technology level with the gang mostly being armed with pipe weapons and clubs made out of scraps. That is excluding Tad’s treasured Shishkebab. Culture The raiders of King’s Council are a diverse lot but have some unifying features. It is a cutthroat life with Social Darwinism practiced in full force. Women, children, and the eldery are not safe within the ranks of the raider gangs. Anyone within the Council could potentially be enslaved if they are defeated by another raider and not ransomed by their gang. However, order is maintained by King's Council for the most part, and there is some law in their airport. The raiders of King's Council are not anarchists after all, and they like to keep order within the walls of the airport. The status of women in King’s Council is rather complicated. Technically, female raiders have the same status as male raiders under most gangs. However, the biological edge given to men often leads to women being defeated and enslaved before attaining any positions of power in the Council. This can also happen to men but happens to women more often. Most of the current female raiders in King’s Council are recent outsiders while the women who have been there for longer are mostly slaves. Female bosses are rare within the Council, but if they are in power, they are often given a great deal of respect from other raider, that is unless they lose their position. Tactics/Interactions Being raiders, most of the Council’s interactions with the outside world are hostile. It mostly either involves the raiders extorting tribute from passing individuals or caravans or straight up attacks. The raiders of King’s Council’s tactics are mostly limited to hit-and-run tactics since they do not want to fight other groups head to head. King’s Council has bad relations with almost everyone in Seattle due to being raiders. The only people who like King’s Council are slavers, chem dealers, and mercenaries who benefit from the raiders’ activities. Even they have little love for the raiders, only selfish interests. Notable Individuals Bugs Bugs is a veteran raider who runs with Stonewall, the lead raider boss of King’s Council. A chem fiend always thirsty for blood (and his next fix), Bugs is surprisingly passive when he is not in rage mode aka battle. He lives for the fight as well as the fame, fortune, and sex it brings. Most importantly to Stonewall, Bugs has little in the way of ambition and is content in his current position, making him a safe future pick for the boss’s lieutenant. Bugs was born in 2266 to a couple under the raider boss Achos in King County International Airport. He was brought up in backdrop of the Oregon Brushfire Wars and King’s Council’s offensive against other raiders in Seattle. He was taught to kill at a young age and killed his first man at eleven; a captive that his parents encouraged him to shoot. In his teenage years, Bugs ascended into his chem fiend stage and raided under Stonewall. However, Bugs was frustrated that his superiors in the Council did not tolerate him raiding just anyone, especially those who paid them off. Nowadays, Bugs mostly just mucks around at the airport with slaves while raiding poor travelers. He is dissatisfied with the current situation but lacks any initiative to change things. Feodor Ivanov Feodor Ivanov is probably the second most powerful raider boss on the Council and a fearsome figure for many in Seattle. Considered by some to be the heir of the mantle of the New Order, Feodor originally formed his raider gang using the white supremacist organization as inspiration before joining King’s Council. That is at least in part however, as Feodor primarily just uses New Order and Old World imagery to fuel a fearsome reputation. Feodor backs up his reputation by being a competent boss for his raiders and being much more aggressive than his counterpart Stonewall. He is also well-educated unlike many in King’s Council, but Feodor mostly just uses his intelligence to either strategize or browbeat other raiders about chems. He is also the creator of the radio network Chaos Hub, the most reliable source of communication between raiders. Born some time around 2246, Feodor Ivanov was born in a very isolated Russian ethnic enclave in the ruins of Seattle. It was his misfortune that his family’s community was attacked by raiders under Fisk in 2251. The little ethnic enclave was destroyed, and young Feodor was taken to the airport alongside his older brother Andrei. Abducted and trained to become raiders, the brothers had to work hard for what little they had left. Andrew raised Feodor practically on his own as the two were drilled to become raiders. In his teenage years, Feodor became quite enterprising and good with machines. He would go on to build his own custom rifle and repair a radio for his own personal use. It would be through this radio that Feodor qould discover his inspiration: Heinrich. Heinrich’s grand talk of epic wars between the races of the Earth and the actual history of the New Order fascinated Feodor, and he listened intently to The Mouth of Mount Saint Helens. Feodor eventually came to see Heinrich’s talk and ideology as effective tools for putting fear into the hearts of those he opposed, and so he got tattoos based on remaining New Order graffiti from around Seattle. This close association with the New Order made many of the other raiders uncomfortable. However, this was in the early days of King’s Council so they needed every man they had. Feodor served well in the offensives of 2270 and his creation of ChaosHub cemented his status in King’s Council. Soon after, Feodor succeeded his old boss as the airport’s newest raider boss, and he has remained on top ever since, only rivaled by Stonewall and Riddle. Feodor remains unpopular within King’s Council for his utilization of Nazi imagery, but the raiders can not deny his effectiveness, especially with his brother at his side. Heat Heat is a raider boss on the Council who has quite the story. Originally an outcast from Emerald City, the woman who became Heat was captured by King’s Council and made into a sex slave, designated Heat. Heat fought her way up from the bottom the Council hierarchy and eventually dethroned her raiders gang’s former leader to become the new boss on the Council. A bit unhinged from years of abuse, the Council’s newest member is a loose cannon, a pit of substance abuse, and reportedly very good in the sack. Only time will tell if Stonewall can keep her in line like he has the other bosses. In 2258, the girl who would come to be known as Heat was born in Emerald City. Her name then was Emma Yglesias. Her parents were poor but fought to have a good life for their children. The Yglesias family were chem mules for cutthroat dealers, and the job was hard but paid well. Emma’s early life was a blur as she tried to pry herself from her parents’ influence. This eventually came to a head when Emma left her parents’ house to become a caravaner. She was going to have a new better life, and it was going to be great. That was Emma’s thoughts until she captured in 2274 by raiders from King’s Council. That brought a new period in her a life: a personal hell. Made a sex slave, Emma lost her name, was given the name Heat, and was forced to service numerous raiders over years and years. This hardship effectively drove Heat insane, and she eventually decided that she wanted to do something crazy: improve her lot. Over time, Heat proved herself to the raider gang that owned her until she was freed in 2280. For the next six years, Heat proved herself to be a valuable addition to the gang and made sure never to open herself to being enslaved again. Heat obtaining power armor in 2286 ensured her safety, in her own eyes at least. In 2287, Heat killed the raider boss Cannon to prevent herself from being enslaved and took his place as the new boss of her gang. She is now the newest member of the ruling council of King’s Council and yet another agitator for renewed aggression. She is also a close collaborator of Jade, who keeps her well-supplied with chems for her services. Many raiders in the Council are skeptical of Heat due to her origins as a slave, but no one has challenged her position as boss yet. Husky Teal Husky Teal is a rather new raider who runs with Riddle. Another interloper from Emerald City, Husky came to King's Council to experience the freedom that life as a raider brings. That came with some unexpected drawbacks, but Husky has learned to roll with the punches so to speak. She is currently on the rise and is hoping to be noticed by Riddle or Stonewall, neither of which has happened yet. Around 2264, Husky Teal was born to loving parents in Emerald City. She was raised by caravaners to become a caravaner but eventually came to idolize raiders. Husky simply saw the raiders as living the fast life, which was exciting to her. Husky eventually hooked up with a Council raider in 2281, and after that, she made her decision to “join the other team”. Abandoning her parents, Husky made her way to the airport and asked to join the King’s Council raiders. Thy accepted, and she was let in. The only reason Husky was recruited and not enslaved was because of the Pip-boy she brought with her to the airport. The raiders knew that would be more useful on a raider than a slave. As she was acclimated to the raider life, Husky’s romantic view of raiders fell away, and she instead began to justify her betrayal in practical terms. She wanted freedom and power, and King’s Council could provide her with both in a short period of time if she played her cards right. She is currently operating underneath Stonewall and hopes to be noticed in future raids. Orion Orion is a peculiar raider veteran who serves under Stonewall. Born and bred as a King’s Council raider, Orion has been on the grind for years and knows Seattle well. His most well-known attribute is not his fighting ability though, it is his love of machinery and industrial pollution. Orion does not talk about these desires very much, but his surprisingly good art depicting his “ideal world” has drawn most of the attention. Not considering himself an artist, Orion makes the art for himself and prefers just not to be pestered by gawkers. Orion was born in 2263 in King County International Airport to a raider couple. Orion was raised by both his parents to be a raider but was instilled with some morals; a rare thing for a raider. Orion’s parents made sure to let him roam around Seattle to learn about the ruins. Orion's memories of going through the tunnels underneath Fremont had a big effect on him in particular. His parents were alarmed by the early signs of Orion’s inclinations, but they just assumed that he was kind of retarded. Orion’s teenage years were confusing. Orion was a raider now, and he was expected to raid, fuck, and steal. However, he instead began to spend more time around pre-War machinery in his free time and began his now infamous art career. His friends wondered why he was never present in the slave pens, and they eventually found him and his art after a day of searching. Orion’s friends accepted his art and attraction towards machinery with some trepidation. Today, Orion continues to fight for King’s Council while making his art for himself. This has attracted many interested individuals including Husky Teal, but Orion is largely disinterested in fans, even women. Riddle Riddle is a raider boss on the Council and Stonewall’s closest ally within King’s Council. A shrewd if resolute character, Riddle inherited his position as raider boss from his late father. His weakness and homosexuality made Riddle initially hated by his father, but his boyhood exploits as a raider won back his inheritance. Now, Riddle, due to careful politicking and low cunning, has made himself quite influential within the Council and second only to Stonewall and perhaps Feodor. Even though he inherited his position, Riddle despises cronyism and values experience over influence when he looks for new recruits. Born in 2248, Riddle was the second son of a raider boss, Orson. Riddle’s brother Cameron died as a child, so Riddle then became his father’s heir. From there, Riddle was trained to become a boss in his father’s stead. It soon became clear that Riddle was not the son Orson had wanted. Riddle excelled with his education but was weak as a child and lost fights to other children often. He came home many days bleeding and had to tell him father that it was his own blood. Riddle’s homosexuality, becoming apparent in his teenage years, also caused his father to resent him as it added to Orson’s perception that Riddle was effeminate or weak. However, these natural handicaps only made Riddle more determined to fulfill his father’s expectations. The offensive in 2270 presented a clear opportunity for Riddle and he performed very well against the Degenerates. Riddle’s help in maintaining King’s Council’s tribute system with caravans also impressed his father. His skill at administrative actions made Riddle invaluable to not only Orson but the lead boss of the Council at the time, Quaker. Riddle became a favorite of Quaker and stayed that way until his death in 2282. Riddle’s father Orson eventually accepted his son as his heir, and he became a raider boss in 2276. He has remained a raider boss since then and stands as Stonewall’s second in command who helps out with the caps. Riddle’s personal life is depressingly impersonal, and he struggles to maintain any relationships. He disdains sex and avoids it with slaves or raiders. Rubble Rubble is one of the Council’s many sex slaves, tragic backstory and all. Originally named Dana, Rubble was captured by the Council from her scavver family and was broken over years of abuse. Sterilized and frequently used by her captors, Rubble has developed a rather fatalistic view of the world as might be expected. If she was not a favorite of Stonewall, Rubble might have been allowed to commit suicide a long time ago. Rubble was born Dana in 2257 to scavver parents. She was raised in West Seattle to become a scavenger just like the rest of their family. Dana was taught to be distrustful of those outside her scavver clan and to be very covetous of the random crap found in the ruins of the old world. So, being enslaved by Council raiders in 2271 came as a huge shock for Dana. She was renamed Rubble and became a sex slave for the raiders, a common choice for the raiders due to her pretty face. Rubble has been stuck in that position ever since, and she has had three children since being enslaved. When she became a favorite of Stonewall around 2280, Rubble was sterilized and made his personal slave. She has become expectant of death since then and does not look forward to the next day. Rubble wishes she was dead, in short. Stonewall is aware of this, and he manipulates and gaslights her to essentially keep her alive. Stonewall Stonewall is the lead raider boss on the Council and the dude that keeps the whole operation running. A young dynamic man, Stonewall rose to power after killing the previous tyrannical boss of his raider gang. Stonewall quickly rose in prominence until he became the lead raider boss of the Council in 2282. A great ball of ambition and bloodlust, Stonewall hopes to one day return the Council to its roots of raiding instead of extortion. However, the lead boss will have to deal with the other minor bosses before that can be accomplished, and the other factions of Seattle will have something to say about resurgent raiders. Stonewall was born in 2254 to a raider couple in King County International Airport. Living under the raider boss Ripper, the couple raised their son to be an ideal raider of King’s Council. Stonewall’s father Greggs was friends with the raider bosses Ripper and Orson, and these connections paved the way for Stonewall to become a successful raider. Stonewall’s early years were fruitful in taking loot and slaves but took a dive when 2270 rolled around. Stonewall was frustrated by not being able to raid as much, but he was able to continue to raid travelers and caravan outside Seattle. He also became more aggressive within King’s Council and killed dozens of other raiders throughout the 2270’s. This came to a head when Stonewall confronted Ripper over the boss killing his parents on 2275. Stonewall scored a lucky hit and managed to kill Ripper after half an hour of battle. He would then become a boss in his own right and led his own gang. The raider boss became more aggressive, and he often agitated for more war against the civilized peoples of Seattle. He was friends with Orson and closely cooperated with him in the year leading up to his death in 2276. The years after becoming boss were good for Stonewall but he remained impotent in the face of the more powerful boss, Quaker. Quaker held him back from raiding a lot of Seattle and its caravans. This all changed in 2282 when Quaker died and Stonewall was made the new lead raider boss. He was initially happy to finally put his plans of increased aggression into practice, but it soon became apparent that King’s Council was in a very fragile position. If they did not have the help of chem dealers paying off settlements and the goodwill bought from not too much raiding, the settlements of Seattle would no doubt be able wipe them off the map. Stonewall saw that most raiders were not aware of this fact, and he became worried about the fate of his own people. Since then, Stonewall has tried to tread the line when it comes to aggression relating to the other bosses such as Heat and Tad McLear. Stonewall still maintains a bellicose appearance while not actually becoming more aggressive. Only time will tell whether Stonewall will have to make a concrete choice on the matter. Tad “Queer” McLear Tad “Queer” McLear is a young raider boss on the Council who often butts heads with the leadership of King’s Council. A raider with an attitude, Tad gained his nickname after an unfortunate early encounter with Badlanders. Before he turned twenty, Tad killed his original raider boss akin to Stonewall. However, Tad did it without the support of the rest of his gang and had to kill a dozen more before they respected him. Currently, Tad “Queer” McLear is leading his gang in a more active role than others in the Council, often raiding outside and sometimes on the outskirts of Seattle. Tad has a price on his head thanks to his attacks on the caravans, and he is hated by many in the city. Tad McLear was born in 2266 to a raider boss and a slave mother in the slave pen of King County International Airport. Tad was quickly seized from his mother and raised by his raider father, who used a midwife to nurse him. Tad was taught from an early age to have a healthy sense of self-interest and to look out for only himself. Tad’s father also taught him to have a sense of inflated self-importance due to being a Council raider instead of a dumb civilized caravaner or Geiger. Tad gobbled up his father’s lessons and diligently followed them up to when his father died in 2280. From there, Tad started to go his own as he deferred his claim to his father’s raider gang to an older raider. A young teenager, Tad took an interest in pre-War artifacts and in particular things related to the old United Kingdom. He decided to model himself off the old world hooligan and began to head a small band of young Council raiders that raided in Seattle. It was in this time around 2281 when Tad had his unfortunate encounter with a burly Badlander that earned him the nickname “Queer”. This encounter was embarrassing but not fatal, as Tad managed to bounce back. Tad McLear became a raider boss in 2286 when he killed the boss of his father’s former gang to take his position along with others. Now, he leads an aggressive bloc within the Council and raids tens of caravans every year around Seattle. This risky behavior has drawn the ire of both Stonewall and the civilized peoples of Seattle. Tad cares little for their hatred and just enjoys being a raider. Quotes By About Category:Groups Category:Raiders Category:Cascadia